HR: 17:30h
AN: U54A-07    [Abstracts]
TI: A Guidebook to Help Coastal Sumatran Communities Prepare for Tsunamis
AU: Samant, L
EM: samant@geohaz.org
AF: GeoHazards International, 200 Town and Country Village, Palo Alto, CA 94301, United States
AU: Tobin, L T
EM: tobin@geohaz.org
AF: GeoHazards International, 200 Town and Country Village, Palo Alto, CA 94301, United States
AU: * Tucker, B E
EM: tucker@geohaz.org
AF: GeoHazards International, 200 Town and Country Village, Palo Alto, CA 94301, United States
AB: One way to save lives in future tsunamis in coastal Sumatran communities - where more than one million people live and where tsunamis can strike less than one half hour after the triggering earthquake - is to help these communities prepare themselves. To this end, GeoHazards International (GHI) has developed, with a team of advisors from the fields of earth science, civil engineering, emergency response management and social science, a tsunami preparedness guidebook that summarizes state-of-the-art research and worldwide experience in community tsunami preparedness. This guidebook (available at no cost on www.geohaz.org) introduces essential information about tsunamis, tsunami risk mapping, evacuation planning, community education, tsunami warning systems, and the reduction of damage that tsunamis can cause. It describes how to plan and conduct effective tsunami safety programs. Particular emphasis is placed on methods to evacuate quickly and safely all areas that could be flooded. Each section of the guidebook points to sources that provide supplementary, detailed information that may be important to particular communities. The guidebook is aimed at any person - a concerned citizen, government official, business leader, or member of a community organization - who is willing to become an advocate for local tsunami safety. Scientific expertise is not needed. GHI now seeks assistance in distributing this guidebook and in working with grassroots and international organizations to help Sumatran coastal communities use it to prepare for the next tsunami.
UR: http://www.geohaz.org
DE: 0845 Instructional tools
DE: 4564 Tsunamis and storm surges
DE: 6699 General or miscellaneous
DE: 9340 Indian Ocean
DE: 9820 Techniques applicable in three or more fields
SC: Union [U]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting